Salvation Roulette

The hard lesson that I have learned is that in walking away from a situation, it is not the same of giving up on someone.

[via Jordon Cooper]

When walking away is hard:

While most of you have only been aware of this tragedy in the past year since the national press picked up on it, the Terri Schiavo saga is over 15 years old...The timeline of this story is far too extensive to put in this Devotional, so here is a link that will take you from the birth of Terri right up to the present day:(http://www.miami.edu/ethics2/schiavo/timeline.htm)

...The REAL story of Terri Schiavo is about 3 issues: eating disorders, Living Wills, and playing "salvation roulette." One of the biggest problems we have in our nation today, especially among young women, is eating disorders.

Sadly, we deal with it daily here at Liveprayer and I have done entire Devotionals on this bondage so many young women, and some young men, are in today. Terri had an eating disorder. Having been overweight throughout her teen years, Terri became a slave to "binging and purging." This is where you eat a large meal, and then go to the bathroom and force yourself to vomit the food up. DOING THIS CAN KILL YOU!

The famous singer of so many great songs during the '70s, Karen Carpenter, died from this. What happens to those who binge and purge is that it throws off the electrolytes in your body which can cause your heart to stop beating. You have a heart attack, not caused by clogged arteries which cuts off the blood flowing to your heart, but from what amounts to an electric shock. This is what happened to Terri on the night of February 25th, 1990 as she had a heart attack after vomiting, and literally layed dead for over 5 minutes on her bathroom floor. Most doctors say that after 3 minutes of no oxygen, your brain dies. This is what happened to Terri, and I pray today that every young woman reading this who is in bondage to an eating disorder will wake up and realize that what you are dong can KILL YOU! The time to fight this battle and get victory over it is NOW!

The second issue is having a Living Will. Even though every court has ruled that Terri did not wish to be keep alive artificially, and yes, a feeding tube is artificial, this is a great lesson on why everyone should have a Living Will. It is a legal document that covers tragedies like Terri's, and clearly spells out your wishes. I would encourage you to contact your lawyer and draw one up. This way, YOUR TRUE WISHES are clearly spelled out, and you do not have to put your family through the gut wrenching choices of what to do if something like this ever happens to you.

The last issue I want to talk about is what I call "salvation roulette."... I deal daily with too many people who felt fine when they woke up, but before the day was over they were dead from a heart attack or some other illness.

[via Liveprayer's March 4/2005 Devotional by Bill Keller]

and when it ends in death:

My wife, talking to me on the phone as I was in the south part of the state, said she had a premonition, a feeling that he was dead. She had thought he committed suicide and I said, no. It wasn't in his character. Both my sister-in-law and my wife are somewhat relieved at his death knowing that he cannot injure their mother emotionally and financially anymore. My wife was relieved that he died away from home. Had he had the coronary at home, my mother-in-law would have called 911...he would have been resusitated and then she would have to care for an invalid man and his invalid mother whom, at the time, was living in their home.

Funny as it seems, the Grace of God works in mysterious ways.

[via Blog of the Lost Dog]